


Fate OneShot: Well Kept Secrets

by Erin_Knightly_Tetch



Category: Fate/Zero
Genre: Family Drama, Family Secrets, Magical Artifacts, Prophetic Dreams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-08-20 07:24:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16551503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erin_Knightly_Tetch/pseuds/Erin_Knightly_Tetch
Summary: Maho Otenba grew up in an ordinary family or so she believed. Her grandmother, Shinpi-Tekina, isn't just your average grandmother who tells the kids fairytales and wild stories. No. There's more than that on the surface in this family. Maho soon learns how real her grandmother's stories truly are and that there is more to her own life than meets the eye.





	Fate OneShot: Well Kept Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> my first ever Fate one-shot.  
> This one shot centers around the introduction of my OC, Maho Otenba and her family. 
> 
> \- -  
> Maho Otenba & her family (Asa, Kasai, Shinpi & Tsuyoi) & other mentioned background characters (c) ~ My Fate OC's

For as long as she could remember sitting on her grandmother’s porch swing had always been comforting. The cushions let you sink into them and the seat lifted your feet off the ground, letting them dangle just a few inches from the porch floor. Fuzzy memories of childhood danced in the lazy sunlight of the, now overgrown, garden. There used to be pathways, bird baths, a mediation pond full of frogs. She used to get lost in the jungle of gravel and grass, her arms out straight as though she was ready to take off and fly as she ran. She could hear her grandfather’s laughter right behind her. She closed her eyes, head bowed as though in prayer, she could almost see him. Blue eyes looked over her glasses as she blinked them open and she was met with the unkempt garden, lost to wild fauna and the frogs who now resided within the muddy ponds.

The back door slid open and Asa Otenba stepped out onto the porch. The sound of small talk and shuffling of plates and silverware were heard briefly before the door was shut again. She was a woman with dark brown hair that was kept in a clipped back ponytail and dark brown eyes to match. Asa had a kind face but she could be stern and speak her mind when she wanted to, which was generally always due to her mistrust of her mother in-law. However, today, Asa didn’t say a word and quietly went to join her daughter on the porch swing. She put a comforting hand on her daughter’s shoulder.

“Maho”, Asa quietly spoke.

“I’m….okay, mom. Jiji is in a better place”, the distant, soft spoken voice answered. 

Asa sat with her hands in her lap, looking away from her daughter. The twenty five year old girl presented herself as a boy in such ways that confused her. Maho’s hair was short yet curled in places and at the ends, she wore suits to formal occasions, she wore baggy sweaters or shirts or pants to school. Maho had told her mother she was not hiding her gender but felt more comfortable in male or unisex clothing. It didn’t help that her reading glasses had a bit of a thickness to them that they often hid her eyelashes, causing most to look closely. Maho would not meet her mother’s eyes and knew there would be repercussions later for her actions. She gave a sigh and reached out to reassure her mother that she was no ignoring her on purpose but needed to be alone.

“You should come talk to everyone inside, I’m sure they’d be more than happy to see you”, Asa spoke softly towards her, though a bit annoyed Maho was not reaching out to her own family.

“I’ll come in soon”, Maho promised, shifting herself back into a position that was comfortable, turning her head away from her mother.

Asa sat stunned for a moment, mouth opening and closing as though wanting to find a reason to argue or be stern with someone but not today. Maho had lost her grandfather, a man who would have given everything for her. She was his favorite granddaughter and it showed. Unlike his wife Shinpi-Tekina, Tsuyoi was not a complete fantasy story teller. Sure the old man loved to tell Maho bedtime stories, just like the rest of the kids, but he didn’t feed her brain with such ideas and sorcery as Shinpi did. He was the reason visiting them had been easy and endearing but now that he was gone, Asa was uneasy about leaving her daughter alone with her grandmother. She decided to leave her daughter be and go back inside, hoping Maho would keep her promise and come in shortly. Kasai saw his wife step back into the living room and walked over to her. He put his hand on her shoulder before glancing out towards the porch. 

“How is Maho?” Kasai wanted to know, speaking in an undertone.

“How would I know? She doesn’t talk to me”, Asa rounded on him quietly, “She says she’s fine but I can’t tell what that means. It’s like her head is somewhere else”, she stopped herself from having a short fuse with her husband and calmly looked at him, “Kasai please talk her into coming inside and eat something. She’s a growing woman and she needs to eat if she’s going to study when we get home”, she fused with her husband’s tie, tugging it hard to imply she meant business.

Kasai promised his wife he’d talk Maho into coming inside but he didn’t intend to keep his promise, not entirely. Unlike his wife, Kasai had a better relationship with Maho. He supported any and all aspects of her choices. The clothing, the quietness and the times she needed to just talk, without prompting of course. Kasai covered a plate with food, as much as he could manage and brought it out to his daughter. Along with a glass of juice. Maho glanced at her father as he set the food and beverage on a small table nearby. 

“Mom’s worried you’re starving yourself”, He commented, gesturing to the food, “Eat up okay kiddo?” he gave her one of his famous smiles, “Jiji would want you to eat as much as you please and your grandmother cooked enough to last the next couple of days and you know your Baba, she doesn’t like waste”.

Maho stared at her father and gave him a small smile, “Thank you papa”, she bowed her head to him before getting up and going over to the small table to pick her plate of food and her drink. She glanced at the food with very little interest, “D-do you think I could stay here for a couple of days?” She asked, eyes not quite meeting his.

“I think your mother would like you to come home with us but I can ask--” Kasai started to say.

“Papa, it’s important. I can’t study if mom is hovering over my shoulder all the time”, Maho blushed a bit at the blurt out. 

Kasai didn’t need an explanation from his daughter and walked towards her, resting his hands on her shoulders, “I’ll ask your grandmother if it’s okay. It should be fine”, he decided, “But you know what it does to her mother so only a couple of days, alright?”

“Hmm mmm”, Maho agreed with a small smile. Her blue eyes meeting the same sheen of blue as her father’s. 

Kasai smiled and left her to eat by herself. Of course this had put him in the dog house with his wife since he hadn’t quite gotten Maho to join the rest of the family. Shinpi sat in her chair with a cup of tea, eyes watching her family. She was mourning her husband of course but she was also thinking about Maho. As she watched her son and her daughter in-law speak before going into a different room, she almost could guess what it was about. Maho emerged from the porch some ten minutes later with a half eaten plate of food and an empty cup. The dark haired girl looked about awkwardly before edging around the room towards her grandmother and Shinpi pet the seat beside her as her granddaughter approached.

“Baba, I apologize for not coming in sooner--”, Maho quickly started to apologize.

“Please don’t apologize”, Shinpi smiled as she set down her cup and saucer, “Your grandfather would sit on that old swing for hours and I couldn’t get him to move until I either made him a meal or threatened to lock the door”, she joked.

Maho nodded and took a seat beside her grandmother, “Baba, with your permission, I’d like to stay with you for a couple of days. I need to study”, she stated, pushing her food around on her plate.

The old woman nodded but a glint her eye sparkled and she figured or assumed there was something much more at work here then just needing a quiet place to study but she let it be for now until she could talk to her alone. She wondered if Kasai could get Asa to agree to this arrangement, at least to some extent. She regarded her granddaughter with a knowing look and nodded at the question.

“Of course, you’re allowed to stay here as much as you’d like”, Shinpi agreed, “You know this is your home as much as your home is. You’re safe here, Maho”, she put a ring filled hand on her granddaughter’s arm and gave it a reassuring squeeze. 

“Thank you, Baba”, Maho nodded to her, smiling with admiration. 

\---

Kasai Otenba was not a brave man by any means but he was a very patient and understanding one. Even when under fire by his wife, his friends and family wondered how he stayed so calm and collected. When the family had all but left, save for a couple of aunts who wished to help clean up and a napping cousin who had too much Sake, Maho had retreated to the landing on the stairs on the second floor. Only Kasai could find her among the shadows and father and daughter shared a silent glance and both smiled at each other. Asa rounded on her husband after spending three or four minutes calling for her daughter because they were leaving.  
“Kasai, tell her now means now!” Asa exclaimed, folding her arms.

“Asa, dear, maybe we should let her stay with my mother for a couple of days. It’s only for the weekend”, Kasai tried to calmly tell her.

Asa’s dark brown eyes narrowed but she gave in despite herself. Kasai knew he wasn’t going to get out of a lecture when they got in the car but while his wife was saying goodbye to the few family members left, he gave his daughter the thumbs up and Maho returned the thumbs up before her parents departed the house. Asa said nothing to her husband until they were in car and the house was out of eyesight.

“Kasai, I can’t believe you! Leaving our daughter with your mother! Are you crazy?! You know Shinpi was into some shady stuff and traveled all over the world when you were a child! Do you think your father would approve of this? I don’t think so! Oh bless that man for having some common sense! Maho is impressionable you know! God knows what Shinpi will tell her or show her or…”, Asa took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, hands folded in her lap, her eyes narrowing again at her husband, “Kasai, are you even listening?”

Kasai had been staying silent as he drove, hoping she’d let herself keep going and ignore him and just get whatever was bothering her off her mind but that wasn’t the case. “Hon, I just think Maho is dealing with a lot right now. She just lost her grandfather and I think some time with her grandmother is what she needs. Besides, she brought her backpack with her homework and her books, she’ll be too busy studying”.

“That’s not the point”, Asa was calm as she spoke, “She spends all her time in her room at home or her dorm and she never gets out or goes anywhere. She doesn’t talk to me anymore and she only looks to you for any reassurance. And don’t think I don’t know about her sneaking off to see her grandmother either during the afternoons she doesn’t have class”, she paused here, glancing out the window, “Maho was born on the night of the red moon when Mars was close to earth. Your mother told us she would be born on that night. March 5th. And she was right”.

“Hon, it’s not like Maho’s future husband is going to descend from a far away place clad in armor, holding a piece of paper that maps out the rest of her life perfectly”, Kasai joked but noted that was not an appropriate move, “Asa, please don’t worry. Maho is just different. Mom said everyone on our side of the family has a some… _ability_ ….I always thought that meant we could write with our left hand or something like that but I always figured mom was kooky, especially after her last trip to London before Maho was born”, he paused again, reaching for his wife’s hand, taking it in his and giving it a gentle squeeze, “Maho is special too and we just have to--”

Asa pulled her hand away at this last statement, “I don’t want her to be special! I want her to have a normal life with a normal job and marry someone who doesn’t believe in knights of the roundtable or fairies or anything creepy like that! Maho is just a very smart girl and she doesn’t need your mother telling her she’s anything else!” She pulled away completely, turning her entire body toward the car door and leaning against it. Eyes staring out towards the sky. The afternoon turning dim and damp overhead. 

Kasai sat in silence as he drove them home. _“I understand how you feel Asa but I can’t feel the same way. Mom was right about Maho when she was born. There’s something in her that is special. I knew it too when I looked at her that first time. Us kids used to think we were like Maho but we couldn’t wake up whatever was inside us. Maybe Maho can”._ He didn’t dare tell his wife that he believed his mother’s stories, about her travels, about the things kept in that house. He didn’t dare share the idea that magic, fate, knights and all of the hocus pocus was real and that it was around them every day. And that Maho was born to do great things. 

Kasai pretended that it was all gibberish for the sake of keeping his wife comforted and happy. Asa hated ghost stories and magic, any kind of fantasy that would keep one from not seeing the world for what it was instead of what it should be. Sure she had thought it silly and cute when they had dated and gone out as a couple but the minute Maho had been born, Asa had become protective, maternal and quite defensive, telling him to stop with the nonsense. His father was the only adult allowed to tell Maho stories as that’s what grandparents do. Fabricate stories to keep their grandchildren engaged. 

_“But even dad knew the truth too and did the same for us kids, act like it was all make believe”,_ Kasai continued to think to himself, missing his father for the first time that day as his mourning set it but he kept it to himself until they were home. He thought about Maho instead. Wondering if she was doing alright and found peace in the house, even now. 

\---

Maho had eventually left her spot on the landing and went to set up her books and homework at the desk in the guest bedroom, listening to her aunts and cousin saying their goodbye’s. She had opened all her text books to their appropriate pages and sat idly with her pencil to her notebook paper, needing to finish her notes. But her mind was not on school work as much as she tried to distract herself. Her fingers pushing up her glasses as she read the paragraph in the nearest textbook about ten times. Her hand coming to rest beneath her chin but before long, her eyes seemed to drift away from her studies. 

Whenever she was in this house it felt like something was always causing her mind to wander. When she was younger, old enough to preoccupy herself with toys, she found she wasn’t entertained by stuffed animals or colorful blocks stacked like buildings but instead, the air around her seemed to stimulate her subconscious. As though there was something else here trying to grab her attention. Sure there were colorful lanterns or odd sculptures or the usual whicker animal her grandfather found at a yard sale to grab her attention but that wasn’t it either. It was the same thing that woke her up at night too when she stayed over. Like now. 

Maho looked up out towards the hallway and set her pencil down, pushing herself to sit up in her chair. Across the hallway was her grandmother’s study. The oak door with it’s dragon rice paper wall hanging had always intrigued her and even when she was younger she’d always stand in front of it. Despite how scared she was of it with it’s gaping open mouth and fierce flaring nostrils, it seemed to captivate her and she loved hearing stories about dragons and that’s how she became interested in reading. She could hear her grandmother tending to the dishes, a pan clanking down from the kitchen brought her back to reality, tearing her gaze from the door. Shinpi had told her and the other grandkids that they weren’t allowed to go into ‘grandpa’s study’, even though Maho knew that it was hers just from hearing the stories her father told her on occasion.

“Maho! Can you come help me please?!” Her grandmother called from the bottom of the stairs.

Maho tore her eyes away from the door again and tried to straighten herself as though she had been lost in studying, “Yes Baba! Coming!” She answered hastily. 

Maho went downstairs to find her grandmother trying to put food in containers and wrap up any leftovers. Shinpi smiled beamingly as her granddaughter entered the kitchen. 

“Maho, please be a dear and put some of these food in containers. I can’t seem to figure out which cover goes to what. And I need to do up the dishes”, Shinpi stated, a bit out of breath. 

Maho nodded and got to work sorting food into four categories: meats, vegetables, sweets and pasta. The two worked silently in the kitchen for a time before Maho’s stomach gave a soft growl and she found herself partial to some rice balls and some chicken. Shinpi knew she hadn’t eaten much during the after service gathering. She made herself a cup of tea and sat at the table in the kitchen with her. 

“I know it’s none of an old lady’s business but was there any particular reason you wished to stay with me? You should be out having fun at your school”, Shinpi smiled at her.

Maho looked up, chewing some food. She took a few minutes to finish chewing and swallowed. “Mom and dad are getting bad again. Mom acts like I’m foreign or something every time she looks at me and dad….”, she paused here, “I’m sorry Baba. That’s disrespectful”, she apologized.

“Your mother is just worried about you that’s all”, Shinpi reassured her, “Mother’s do that. I did that with all my children. And you’re not being disrespectful, my child. You’re allowed to speak your mind here”.

Maho stared down into her plate, “Dad is acting funny like he has a secret and he wants to share it but is too scared to. Every time he talks to me, it’s like he wants to tell me something. Mom always seems upset when she finds my books or hears me talking to dad about dragons and knights and reading about magic”, she trailed off here and glanced at her hands and then her grandmother, “I think she doesn’t like this house either but always brought me here because of Jiji. Now that he’s gone….”, she stopped and went quiet.

Shinpi sat and sipped her tea. She said nothing and calmly watched her granddaughter. Maho had been uncharacteristically quiet as of lately. Like today for starters. And it was no secret that her parents had been at odds since Maho’s birth either. And it had turned into which parent had the right idea of going about raising her. And Maho was stuck in the middle. Shinpi may have had kind blue eyes, the silver grandmother bun tied up with a ribbon and that warm grandmother feel but her hands were clad in various rings and she had that all-knowing-look about her despite everyone waving it off as ‘grandmother’s know everything’ kind of joke. She was smarter than she looked and she ran the family from behind her, now deceased, husband. 

“It’ll be alright Maho”, The old woman reassured her, “Your grandfather is proud of you and loved you very much and I love you very much too”, she gave her a smile, “Everything turns out just the way it’s supposed to be. You’ll see”. 

\---

After finishing helping her grandmother in the kitchen and thanking her for the reassurance, Maho went back to her books and tried once more to continue her homework. After three pages of taking notes and making note cards, she found she couldn’t concentrate once again and decided to give up for the time being. The day been long and hard as it was and maybe her grandmother was right, maybe everything would turn out the way it was supposed to be. She shuffled the note cards in her fingers and briefly tried to look through them as a questions and answers game. Her eyes were heavy and the afternoon had all but disappeared by the time Maho had tried to tackle her math homework, idly hitting buttons her calculator for fun instead of studying. 

She put her things away and cleaned up the desk before undressing and getting into her pajamas, which were a t-shirt and shorts. Climbing into bed, Maho set her glasses next to her, staring into the blank darkness of the room. The sound of her grandmother watching TV downstairs carried her away and she fell asleep to the cooking channel droning on and on about how to make a simple onion and dumpling stew. Her mind was far off as she slept and Maho dreamt of a full moon against a darkened sky. Shields and swords littered the ground everywhere. The dirt and mud looked caked in blood and was dark with footprints. Everything seemed out of focus when she tried to look around for signs of life or walk further. But it was foggy and kept blurring, like she was in a fish bowl. She was trying to get back home but the moon was slowly going away and her right hand was starting to burn. She was in pain but it didn’t hurt and it felt heavy at the same time. She grabbed it. Yelling for her grandmother, yelling for her parents….

Maho sat up clutching her right hand, which had fallen asleep due to the position she’d been laying in. It took her a second to get her bearings. It was still dark out but it was nearing morning already from the twilight hours peeking through the windows. She figured she must have slept heavy or the dream had been re-occurring or maybe it lasted longer than she anticipated. She laid back down, clutching her hand and looking it over. Nothing there and nothing wrong with it. Maybe the pain she had felt in her dream was a mild cramp. Would figure since she tended to sleep on it or spend all day writing with it. After a few minutes of mulling over what her dream could have meant or maybe it had been the spicy rice balls telling her something, she fell back to sleep with little to no interruptions.

When she awoke later in the morning, the sun gleaming through the shades on the window, Maho did her business and brushed her teeth, saw to her clothes and went downstairs to find a note from her grandmother. Shinpi had stepped out and had left her a small bowl of fruit and yogurt for breakfast. Maho picked at the fruit and drank a glass of juice, walking about the house and admiring the pictures in their frames, the plastic lanterns hanging along the ceiling near the porch sliding door. Subscribed magazines lay untidy on the small table near the corner chair and knitting sat in a wicker basket near her grandmother’s rocking chair. The house felt bigger in a way with everyone gone. And a little bit eerie. 

Maho took care of her dishes before going back up stairs with a bottle of water, stopping on the landing to listen to the house. To it’s creaks and rustles, as though something was stirring around. Yet everything was still. She thought of her yesterday when she had been alone upstairs, thinking about the house distracting her. Pulling her along as though leading her. Maho took the steps up to the second floor one at a time as though wary of what might be waiting. The hairs on her neck prickled and she found herself standing in front of her grandmother’s study door. She met the red eyes of the dragon. The dragon was gold with light yellow belly scales and dark talons. There were red talismen markings in the upper and lower corners of the wall hanging and black lined clouds around the dragon as though he was rising from below, ready to fight. 

The dark haired girl reached out slowly to the door knob and turned it slowly, hoping that it was locked but there was a soft _‘click’_ in those few seconds. She found she had been holding her breath and tried to calm herself. Pushing the door open, the bottom of the door brushing against the thin carpet. Maho poked her head inside, her eyes meeting bookshelves, a desk, one plush chair and another table. Her feet pressed slowly against the carpet as she entered the room, going over and setting her water bottle down on the edge of the desk before turning her attention to the nearest shelves. Parchment papers rolled up, glass jars with odd plants and fungi in them. Books of varying sizes, either standing up or in shuffled piles. There were maps and other such papers on another shelf. 

Maho stepped away from the shelf to try and glance up at what was on the upper shelves but the room had very little light coming through the thick curtains that it was hard to make out. It looked like bowls and more jars. She turned to look at the opposite shelf to see smaller glass vials with symbols on them she didn’t know what they were. There were notebooks and more stacks of different sized books here too. Maho reached out and picked up one of the few regular glass jars and looked inside it. It had a purplish liquid in it, like thick paint but the top glittered like a dark ocean. She put the jar back and stood back to admire the rest of the room. On the one table near the middle of the room there were maps of constellations, other types of things she recognized from her fantasy books that were written down in her grandmother’s handwriting, just symbols and other little details. 

_This couldn’t be real, could it?_

Maho made her way back to the desk where her water bottle sat and noticed a purple box sitting nearby. Save for the box and her water, there were three purple pouched bags with silver strings sitting on the other side. She was wary of the pouches and opened the box instead. There were a stack of cards inside, laying face down. She picked up a few and among them were: strength, the hermit and the magician. Her dad had told her in private once that her grandmother owned her own set of tarot cards. Maho didn’t understand what that meant at the time but thought it was cool regardless. The cards looked interesting enough as she glanced over them, taking great care to put them back into the box. 

This room definitely felt off than that of the rest of the house. The rug beneath her feet was dark and seemed to blend into the walls where it stopped. The atmosphere felt different too. It didn’t feel apart of the house at all, it was like it was another place in time or something else entirely. She wondered if she was dreaming now that she stood here, wondering if she hadn’t walked off into one of her books. 

“Dad was right, Baba is spooky”, Maho murmured to herself. 

It was the sound of her grandmother’s car coming up the driveway that caught her attention and caused her to have an adrenaline rush and panic. She made sure anything she’d touch was in the right place or close to that and grabbed her water bottle, make sure there was no water stain on the desk before leaving and closing the door behind her. Maho bolted to the guest bedroom and tried to collect herself before going downstairs to help her grandmother with any grocery bags. Shinpi smiled as Maho met her at the car and handed her a couple of things to take in for her. 

“Thank you, Maho”, Shinpi said as the final bags were brought in from the car. 

“Your welcome”, Maho smiled back and unpacked the groceries.

Shinpi watched her granddaughter navigate the kitchen to put things away properly, after a couple of minutes, she removed her coat to hang it up, “Did you um….did you find everything you were looking for?” She inquired.

Maho nearly dropped a can of tomatoes and turned to look at her grandmother, eyes blinking, and looking confused, “Pardon, Baba? Did I--?”

“Did you find what you were looking for?” Shinpi asked again, still calmly and sweetly, “In my study”, she added as though she had asked if Maho had found what she wanted from a cabinet or in the fridge.

Maho stared at her, frozen in place, _‘how did she know I was in her study?’_ she thought to herself, glasses slipping down her face as she nearly misplaced one of the cans she was trying to stack and clumsily knocked them over and caught them at the last second, “How--how did you--” she spluttered, waiting to get lectured or yelled at.

The old woman walked over and helped restack the cans that were threatening to roll from Maho’s grasp and onto the floor. “I’d hoped you’d visit it one of these days. I know I was strict about it when you were a child but I knew you weren’t ready for it then but of course you are now”, she smiled thoughtfully at her. 

Maho continued to stare at her blankly, “I have so many questions, I--I’m not sure where to start, Baba. What is that room? Did Jiji know about it?” her mind was buzzing and she was cautious still. Wondering why she wasn’t in trouble for going in there.

“Your grandfather of course knew about it. He built me those shelves himself. He of course never pried as much as I thought he would”, Shinpi answered her, “And as for what that room is, it’s a secret unfortunately. As much as I love you, I can’t reveal that”, she looked disappointed despite her excitement, “All you can know is that you were born on the night of the blood moon when Mars was in retrograde over earth. None of my own children could awaken such great power within them because they didn’t know how. Sure they did well intellectually and found great success but not the kind that you carry within yourself”. 

All of this filtered through her mind slowly and she looked at her grandmother, wondering what she was talking about. None of her children could awaken a great power? What did that even mean?! Sure grandma and grandpa used to tell them stories about huge wars over previous decades but Maho had always believed them to be fictional, it was just the way the stories sounded and were told. But this made her think of her dream last night. She looked away to put the eggs, milk and cheese in the fridge. Her grandmother had to be messing with her right? That room looked like an apothecary but maybe it was just old remedy medicines. That had to be it! Grandma couldn’t be a witch or a wiccan or a magical being. Could she? The idea was too weird for Maho, even though she loved the idea of magic and things like that. But a lot of what she had seen and hearing just made too much sense. All of the things her father had told her in private.

“Baba? Have you ever had any weird dreams before?” Maho wanted to know. Even though part of her wasn’t sure she wanted to know or not but she was now very curious. 

Shinpi started putting water in the tea kettle and set it on the stove, “Of course”, she turned on the stove to heat up the kettle, “I don’t always vividly remember them but I suppose most folks don’t”, she paused here and turned fully to her granddaughter and gestured for her to sit at the table. Once they were sat down, Shinpi looked at her with a calm and serene expression, “But every once and a while there is one dream I remember and I had it again last night after I fell asleep”, she paused again, “You were in a great battle, among several or more people I am unfamiliar with or can’t really describe. There were swords and shields and blood all around you. But you were safe”, she grew quiet for a moment, “There was a man there with gold plated armor, I couldn’t see his face but he kept close to you. I remember nothing else when you two disappeared into the fog--”

The legs of Maho’s chair screeched against the floor of the kitchen as she stood up, her palms resting face down on the surface of the table, “How did you know about my dream? How did you know I dreamt about the swords, the shields and blood on the ground? About the fog?” Her heart was racing, pumping fast, she wasn’t angry or upset, she was scared, her eyes big behind her glasses, “Baba, please tell me you’re joking! Please!”

“Maho”, Shinpi spoke her name quietly, looking down at her hands, “Maho I’m sorry but I can’t tell you anything more. You’re not ready to know. Not yet--”

Maho just stood with her palms against the table, her body shaking with fear and a cold sweat started to run down her spine. Nothing made sense. Nothing she was telling her made any sense. She wasn’t sure what the truth was anymore. After a moment or two, she finally stood up fully and placed her hands in front of her, bowing her head to her grandmother. “I’m going to go home tomorrow afternoon, Baba. I have school on Monday and I need to study before I go back. I’m sorry”.

She took her leave and went back upstairs to the guest bedroom, quietly shutting the door behind her. Shinpi stayed sitting at the kitchen table for a time, listening to the kitchen clock tick along. Before long the kettle on the stove whistled and she made herself a cup of tea. Maho returned to her studying after a few long drinks of water but couldn’t quite knock what her grandmother had said out of her head. And yet something within her stirred excitedly. The idea that her grandmother had some sort of otherworldly study in her house was very intriguing but the dots she tried to connect were all over the place. After a few hours of textbooks and going over her notecards, Maho retired for the rest of the day to her bed and grabbed a book from her bag for light reading. 

When the blue sky started to turn a light purple, Maho wandered downstairs to the kitchen. Her grandmother was fast asleep in her rocking chair. She went to her grandmother and put a blanket over her to keep her warm and kissed her cheek. Going back into the kitchen, Maho quietly started prepare a chicken soup with noodles and vegetables. She wasn’t the greatest cook but she knew a few small basic things due to university life. Shinpi awoke some time later to find Maho stirring vegetables in a pot on the stove. The young woman smiled at her grandmother and wiped her hands on a dishcloth she was holding. Shinpi walked up to her and kissed her forehead. 

“You’re such a wonderful girl, Maho”, She told her.

“I’m sorry about earlier Baba, you kind of freaked me out”, Maho admitted. 

“Don’t give it another thought”, Shinpi exclaimed with a smile, “You’re not ready to know the true answers of the world just yet. I’ve read it in the tarot cards many times and I’m not allowed to interfere with how you know and find out what’s to come next. You’ll be great though, I know it”.

Maho just nodded to what her grandmother said and allow her words to comfort her more than allow them to scare her. She knew her grandmother meant well but to anyone else this talk would sound like the ravings of a woman who just lost her husband and was coping through fantasy and stories she used to share with him. She kind of got why her mother was worried her grandmother might corrupt her but Maho didn’t feel it would go that way. She felt the same force trying to pull her along to see what was behind the curtain so to speak and she was tempted to glance behind that curtain, even if was just a quick one. 

“Thank you, Baba”, Maho smiled at her before giving her hug. 

Shinpi was taken aback by this considering Maho’s earlier reaction but she loved her granddaughter and understood why she had reacted the way she did. Anyone would but she knew Maho would be strong and fearless one day. 

One day soon. 

\---

The following day, Maho packed up her books and ate breakfast with her grandmother out on the back porch. They sat in silence and looked out over the overgrown garden together. A warm wind drew around them. Maho began to wonder if dreams could ever become reality if you thought about them hard and long enough. She thought back to the rice paper wall hanging of the golden dragon with the red eyes. Her grandmother had stated there had been a man with her with gold plated armor. She wondered if that was a sign or not. Something symbolic like a good harvest or a full moon or something like that. Maho decided she wasn’t going to read too much into it as much as she was excited about it. 

She had called a cab from her grandmother’s and soon she was carrying her things out to the cab waiting by the curb. Shinpi standing on the front steps waving her off. Maho raised her hand and waved back. 

“See you soon Baba! Thank you for everything again!” Maho happily called to her.

Shinpi watched as the cab pulled away and disappeared down the road. She went inside and went up to the second floor to look in on the empty guest bedroom before heading to her study. She checked the box of tarot cards and found that Strength, the Hermit and the Magician had been stacked neatly together on top of each other. Shinpi smiled to herself as she put the lid back onto the box and rested her fingers upon it.

Bowing her head in prayer with a relieved sigh.

\---

Maho spent the majority of the cab ride quite perplexed and having mixed feelings despite a vast majority of excitement and wanting to talk about what she had learned from her grandmother. But maybe she shouldn’t be so excited after all. Everyone thought Shinpi was crazy and made up stories. But hadn’t she been raised into a family that was supposed to trust each other? Wasn’t she supposed to trust her own grandmother? She had no reason to lie to her. Even Jiji knew about the study. Maybe he knew the things she did as well. Maybe he had had the weird dreams just like her. 

_“Maybe the truth killed him”,_ she paused as this dark thought crossed her mind, _“No, don’t think like that”,_ she tried to push the thought of her mind but she couldn’t help it what with all the information nagging at her, _“He did die in his sleep, didn’t he? Maybe he saw what Baba had! Maybe he saw you with the man in gold armor….maybe…”_

She became upset at the idea her grandfather had died in a horrific way just from seeing the future. He had died peacefully in his sleep! That was all! Nothing more! She tried to cling to something else, something less depressing. She was glad when the cab finally arrived at her address and she was able to remind herself she was under her mother’s roof and there was no way she’d be able to bring up what was eating at her. She thanked the cab driver and tipped him before heading inside. Asa threw open the door before Maho had a chance to even take out her house key.

“Maho! My baby girl! You’ve come back to us!” Asa pulled her daughter into her arms and hugged her tightly.

“I was only gone a couple of days, mom”, Maho muttered as her mother let her go.

Asa seemed quite pleased and put her hands on her hips, “I hope you got your homework done while you were Baba’s”.

Maho nodded and promised her she got more than half of her schoolwork completed as she walked through the kitchen and into the living room. Unlike her grandmother’s exotic looking house, Maho’s parents house was a bit more neatly kept. Everything was ordinary and made Maho feel like she was in some sort of homes and gardens magazine. Although, she was sure their upstairs bathroom was out of one of the more modern decorating pages on page fifty-four. She went upstairs to unpack her things and set up her desk and make sure her homework was more neat and tidy. Her room was dark purple with a white floral print and vibrant fantasy posters from movies and books. She had two bookshelves dedicated to fantasy and mystery novels, as well as some small figurines from her favorite fantasy book series. Her room was hard to tell if a boy or girl lived here. Her closet had two sections to it and she kept the sections separate but very rarely used the right hand side as she preferred boys apparel such as sweaters and shirts and pants. Maho took off her shoes and sprawled out onto her bed and stared at her ceiling. Using glow and the dark stickers at one point in her life, she had used them to map out a constellation and she had loved looking up at it at night as a kid. 

The twenty five year old felt as though she didn’t belong in this room. She hadn’t felt like she belonged in here since she was about 12 years old. As she recalled she was excited for a sleepover at another girl’s house and her mother had been joyous at the idea of her spending time with other girls instead of wanting to read all the time. There were about eight other girls at this thing and only Yujin, Soku, and Mizu were the only ones who were her friends. The other girls didn’t like her and picked on her. Maho was grateful for her friends sticking up for her and didn’t understand what she had done to make them so malicious. Yujin was the girl who had invited her and was suddenly realizing maybe she shouldn’t have invited everyone else because of the way they were behaving. 

Heikin, the ring leader for the other four girls and the main girl causing Maho discomfort, had decided it was funny to pretend to be nice to Maho and play ‘beauty school’ and used real scissors to cut Maho’s hair. _“She’s a boy! She’s a boy! No boys allowed!”_ some of the other girls had screamed in laughter, leaving her in tears. Maho’s mother had been called and taken her home. Her own mother had been furious and thought it was Maho’s fault for letting her friends cut her hair. Maho had been upset and feeling naked without her long hair for a few of weeks before slowly realizing how much she liked it. With her sudden hair change, she started to feel not right in her skirts and knee socks either. Soku and Mizu had moved away half way through middle school and Yujin had joined Heikin’s group sometime during high school. And while Maho had felt alone, she felt more comfortable with her hair this way.

Over the years she had kept it the length it was, which had horrified her mother to no end and was lectured about not wearing the proper clothes or letting her hair grow out. _“You’re hopeless!”_ was some of the monthly comments she got from her when Maho refused to wear barrettes or any kind of hair pin. She opened her eyes to glance at the ceiling. It was okay to be the way she was, she was comfortable with who she was. She had learned the hard way of course what with high school being cruel but everyone had university either accepted her or left her alone, nobody questioned it. Yes there were times she was confused for a boy but that didn’t change who she was. In way...the haircut incident made her feel special and unique. 

“Just like Baba said”, Maho muttered to herself, her mind backtracking to earlier. 

“Maho! Dad’s home! Come have tea with us!” Her mother called up the stairs happily.

Her mom calling to her broke her out of her thoughts and she found herself deciding to go sit with her parents for a bit. She hoped she’d be able to stay quiet and not bring up anything that could ruin the one afternoon she had with them. Sighing, Maho went downstairs to find her dad at the kitchen table reading the newspaper. She quietly went to the fridge for some juice and then sat the table.

“Maho, we’re having tea. Aren’t you going to have any?” Asa asked, looking shocked as she too sat at the table with her husband and daughter. 

“Leave her alone, sweetheart. I’m sure my mother had her drink enough tea to kill an army”, Kasai replied, setting the newspaper down.

Asa seemed to become ridged in her chair as though someone had poked her in the middle of her back, “Kasai, honestly, your mother is a bad influence on our daughter, why can’t you see that? Why do you always have to sit there and grin like it’s some sort of joke?!” She rounded on her daughter with a little less bite to her bark, “Maho, I hope Shinpi didn’t overwhelm you or tell you any of her stories while you were there. I’m sure she was thrilled to have company though”.

“Yeah”, Maho agreed quietly, “I think Baba misses Jiji. She let me study and do my homework but I helped her with the groceries and I ate meals with her”.

Kasai looked over his daughter curiously, just in quiet observation. There was something in her blue eyes that weren’t quite meeting his or his wife’s gaze. She stared into the bottle of juice in front of her instead. Something was either bothering her or was she too scared to talk to them? He put down the paper to give her his full attention. “Any new stories then? You know your baba loves to tell you stories when she’s feeling blue”.

Maho looked at her father, wondering what had gotten into him and what had made him come to this decision to ask. Should she tell him? Would he understand? It couldn’t hurt right? She wanted to be able to trust her family without being judged with what was going on inside her own head. Without looking at her mother, she leaned against the table at her dad. “Welllll….I--I got to see inside Baba’s study. She has a lot of odd things in there that are just like in my books and she has tarot cards too! And constellation maps! She and I had the exact same dream too! And she said I was born on the born on the night of the blood moon when Mars was in retrograde over earth--”

“Maho!” Her mother snapped, nearly upsetting her own cup of tea, “That’s quite enough”--

“But---but mom! Baba said--” Maho spluttered, cheeks going dark pink with embarrassment.  
Kasai saw his daughters plite and came to her aid, “Hon, I wanna hear the rest of this”.

“Kasai! Not you too! Don’t you dare encourage this!” His wife snapped at him. 

Maho never talked over her mother before but for a split second, she had an adrenaline rush, finding her voice, though quivering and afraid, she whipped her head around to look at her father, “Papa! Baba said she dreamt I was in a great battle and that I carry something within me. She said she was happy I found her study because none of her own children could awake such a great power within them because they didn’t know how!” Her whole body was shaking and everything said out loud frightened even more than the idea her mother grounding her for two months. 

Her parents gaped at her. Asa looked horrified and Kasai intrigued. Asa stood up and placed her hands down on the surface of the table. Neither husband nor daughter spoke and Maho slowly shrunk into her chair. 

“Maho Otenba, that is quite enough of your childish behavior”, Asa exclaimed, “You are a university student and you will behave like one! Your grandmother has poisoned your head with these stories for years of magic, prophecies, and other nonsense! And she’s done it for the last time!” 

“Asa, don’t you think you’re being a bit harsh?” Kasai asked, frowning a bit.

“I don’t want our daughter believing she’s some prophesied magician or something absurd. She is forbidden to see her grandmother. I understand Shinpi means well but your mother is dangerous and I will not have this talk in my household”.

Maho felt very small as she watched her parents and tried pleadingly to look at her father and catch his eye. Kasai sighed and looked downwards for a moment. He wouldn’t look at his daughter. Asa seemed a bit satisfied and turned back to Maho.

“Maho”, she continued, “I forbid you to see or speak with your grandmother. You will forget what she told you and those ridiculous dreams. Do you understand me?” 

Maho didn’t speak but affirmed a nod instead. She quietly excused herself from the table and took her juice with her. Kasai got up from the table as well and followed his daughter. Kasai put his hand on her shoulder once they were in the hallway upstairs alone. 

“Papa, Baba was right. She was right about--” Maho started to plead her case.

“Maho. I want you to stop”, Kasai found himself saying, begrudingly, “I want you to forget all of this and never speak of it again. Your grandmother lied to you. She was telling you stories and what you wanted to hear because she was upset your grandfather passed away, that’s all”. 

Tears welled up in Maho’s eyes, hearing her father say that, after all of these years of him sticking up for her grandmother’s stories and believing them too. She was devastated. Her father looked serious as she looked at him. All she could do was nod and agree with the rules. Kasai watched her walk to her room and his insides burned with how much he hated himself. He knew his mother had been right about Maho since her birth. _Something was going to come to light. Something was coming._ And everything his daughter had told him in those brief few moments, that confirmed it all. _What had Maho and his mother both dreamed? What was this great battle?_ Kasai returned to his wife to reassure her he made sure Maho understood. 

\--- 

In her room, Maho stood by the window. She was confused and hurt and upset. They hadn’t believed her! And what was worse was that she wasn’t sure what she believed either. She struggled to keep herself from crying, trying not think about the mixed emotions running through her. She couldn’t just let her grandmother be alone with her grandfather gone but now she was forbidden from seeing or speaking to her grandmother. _Did her parents hate her too? For being born? Was her mother so repulsed by her that she wouldn’t acknowledge the talk of magic?_ She stared at out across the afternoon sky. 

_“Maybe I’m not special after all. Maybe she was just telling me what I wanted to hear”,_ Maho held up her hands, staring at them, _“Maybe there is no such thing as the man in the golden armor or the great battle. Just dreams and stories Baba conjured up”._

She crossed the room to where she had her books and picked up one off the shelf. As she read the title and looked at the cover art, her mother’s voice in her head lectured her and it caused her to flinch and shake as she struggled to hold onto the soft covered novel. She put it back and looked away, disappointed. Staring sadly at the carpet. Her grandfather was gone and she no longer had access to her grandmother for comfort. 

_“Maybe mom was right”,_ a lump in her throat formed as this thought passed through her mind and she felt as she had during the funeral only a couple of days ago. She felt alone and as though nobody out there heard her or respected her. That she wasn’t meant for anything special after all. She went to her desk and opened her text books. _“I wanted to believe so hard but I guess that day Baba talked won’t be coming after all”._

\---

Maho worked on her homework until her father took her back to the university and dropped her off at the dorms. She promised again she would forget everything from over the weekend and to end the nonsense talk. However, Maho’s roommate told her a package had come earlier in the day. Maho was confused and wondered why there was mail on Sunday and wondered if someone had hand delivered it. She figured it was probably one of her aunts or a cousin and she would throw it out if it was another makeup kit or magazines to find boyfriends. She examined it. The package was fairly small and was only addressed to her. She opened it carefully. She nearly fell backwards on her bed with shock. Inside was the rice paper wall hanging from her grandmother’s study. The golden dragon’s red eyes peered up at her from within the box. She looked back at the handwriting and recognized it as her grandmother’s. She couldn’t think of a reason for her to give it to her or send it to her either. And she felt even worse that she could not communicate to thank her either. 

“What is it?” her roommate asked.

“It’s nothing”, Maho decided, closing the box and putting it under her bed.

She had to do what her parents said and forget about such things. As hard as it was, Maho was feeling less enthusiastic about the wall hanging than she had the day before. Her heart sunk low into her stomach and to distract herself, she asked her roommate about quizzing her and giving her the handmade note cards. Every so often though, she’d glance at her bed, as though the wall hanging was calling to her. 

She tried to block it out.

\---

Maho Otenba wished to forget about what her grandmother had told her and move past it. Part of her wished to hold onto the idea that the family had some sort of well hidden secret and that she was a special being unlike anyone else but that part of her slowly died out like a burning candle flame over the next couple of months and she forgot about it completely. 

_That was until…_

_…The night of the starless sky…_

_….The night she missed the last bus back to campus and had to walk back alone…_


End file.
